In the same way that accidents will always attract onlookers, so there is a degree of vicarious pleasure in observing an F1 team in its dying throes.

What ridiculous sponsorship deals will they sign? Which drivers, thought retired, will pop-up for a cameo? At what point will they draw the line and shut the doors to avoid having to run Ricardo Rosset?

Lotus in 1994 arguably crossed the line in accepting anyone with a large enough wallet when Phillippe Adams popped up in the car for the Belgian and Portuguese Grands Prix. To say he was uncompetitive is beyond charitable.

F3 winner

Unlike last week?óÔé¼Ôäós Lapped Legend, Adams had shown some talent. In British Formula Three, during arguably its most competitive era, he was second in the 1992 championship. However this was his fourth year in F3 and third in the British series.

Onwards and well, sideways, to British Formula 3000 in 1993 saw Adams claim the title on appeal from a field of driving talent matched only by your average supermarket car park.

1994 initially saw Adams scale down his racing, moving into the Belgian Procar series where he was very competitive. However after the investment in his career to date this hardly represented a logical next step in the move into F1.

Lotus in trouble

Meanwhile, by mid-1994 the once great Lotus team were in a similar mess. In Johnny Herbert they had a quick and committed driver, but the team?óÔé¼Ôäós pay cheque, Pedro Lamy, was out for the season following a massive Silverstone testing shunt.

Suddenly the hunt was on for a number two who could pay the bills – not an easy task when the 1994 Lotus had the straight line speed of Andy Fordham and the cornering ability of a zimmer frame.

By the time the Belgian GP came around Lotus were getting desperate, the promised engine revisions from Mugen still hadn?óÔé¼Ôäót materialised, and the team was scraping from race to race. In stepped Philippe Adams and his father?óÔé¼Ôäós wallet and influence.

Star at Spa

I was in the paddock at Spa in 1994 and can remember the whole affair in detail.

Adams was quoted $1m for the Belgian GP weekend and duly donned the Lotus overalls, which he didn?óÔé¼Ôäót remove once all weekend, prancing through the paddock like a Mugen-endorsed peacock.

Now, as anyone who has attempted to get close to an F1 driver on race weekend will tell you, the drivers are scarcer than a dodo in the wild or a supermodel in my bedroom.

Not so Adams, who was so desperate to be asked for his autograph, that he went on lengthy escapes into the public tribunes on the exit of La Source, in his overalls, in the hope of recognition. Sadly the programme was quite nice that year so nobody wanted it graffitti-ed.

While Adams was striving for recognition there were some issues with his payment. His father?óÔé¼Ôäós companies were reported to be in financial difficulty, so much so, that other sponsors on Adams?óÔé¼Ôäó Lotus asked for their logos to be removed, lest they be implicated.

Thanks to some changeable weather in qualifying Adams scraped onto the grid in 26th place (out-qualified by Christian Fittipaldi who set his time on a soaked track), but didn?óÔé¼Ôäót actually take his place on the grid, instead preferring the 27th place slot behind Jean-Marc Gounon?óÔé¼Ôäós Simtek.

For the following 16 laps Adams duly followed the Simtek around, even waiting at La Source for Gounon to recover from a spin. However on lap 16 Adams got the exposure he wanted by parking his car in the gravel directly in front of the TV cameras.

Last lap

Alex Zanardi was given the nod for the Italian GP, but by the time Portugal rolled around (quite literally in Damon Hill?óÔé¼Ôäós case) Adams was back in the Lotus, qualifying 25th a mere two seconds adrift of Johnny Herbert.

In the race Adams finished 16th and last, four laps adrift. Although contracted for the European GP at Jerez, Lotus could stand the embarrassment no longer, reinstated Zanardi, and with that Adams was out of F1.

Subsequently Adams moved full time into Procar and Sportscar racing where he has competed with some success.

yes i remember Adams,
at the time i was making models and did some f3’s when he was driving for Bowman.
never thought he would make it to F1 !!!
Nice enough boy,
you should have seen him on the podium when he won the Brands f3 race,he was so happy he went totally mad…embarrassing that was.

Does anybody know that Philippe Adams came to Lotus and only the week prior to the Belgian GP he could test the Lotus 107C for 7 laps at Silverstone?
The test was stopped because the track was flooded.
A week later he could race the 109 at Spa ,a car he’d never driven before.
He had to wear Zanardi’s shoes Size 41 because Philippe’s size 42 wouln’t fit the tub.
He did every race without a race seat because the car was just to small for him.
Please have a look at his first F3 season and find out against who he was competing back then.
Mika Salo,Mika Hakkinen,Damon Hill,Pauk Stewart,Derek Higgins,Steve Roberson etc.
He did it with a very small budget compared to the Marlboro sponsored Mika’s.
He never had a decent budget or a fair chance to become the great champ he could have been .

Hi Guys,
It is me and I was really impressed about This ridiculous fanatic article.
You forget that I’ve won many good races and never had a good budget so how can you jounalist’s knowing if I as good or bad. I’ve been competing in more than 128 races through my racing carreer and won 32 out of them. Instead of writing stupid articles you better join forces for helping and supporting and finance young coming drivers.

Don’t be bothered aboutÂ some unhappy articles. I’ve been Â supported you since your F3 days andÂ everybody that knowsÂ a little bit about motorsport understands that a not-sucessful career in F1 doesn’t meanÂ aÂ lack of quality by the driver.Â Â

The biggest difference between you and some others such asÂ Pedro Diniz,Â Tiago Monteiro and even Andrea de Cesaris is the amount of money (as well as tests and possibilites of having a good car) they could bring to F1.

I totally agree with Walter and Philippe. You were following F1 since Senna? I followed Senna and other Schumacher’s as journalist since their kartingyears…
Already in karting it was obvious Adams was a talented guy, in Opel Lotus he was as quick as McNish and Hakkinen and that went on in British F3. And yes, he was proud to race in F1, shouldn’t you be? Ridiculous indeed.